How to become a member

[ManassasPaul]

Greetings, recently stumbled here from the PCI site. Anyways, the question I had was how do I become a member...don't own a boat yet, but I wanted to get familiar with the owners manual and other goodies in the member's area. Haven't seen any forms for signing up or sending payment and sadly it will be some time before I can buy the boat and get the first year.

[Ron]

Paul -

The "members only" section was originally intended for owners of the Telstar who joined the association, noting that every owner was an automatic member for the 1st year courtesy of PCI. For obvious reasons, we then extended it to people who had ordered the boat. Recently we've had a few requests to extend it to others who were planning on buying the boat but wanted to find out more about it first from those who have already owned it. The first 2 groups have had (or will have) their membership paid for the 1st year by the builder. The last group (you and some others) will be sold a membership at the going rate - which will be $10 per year (plus postage and duplicating costs if you want delivery of materials other than thru the internet). If you do buy the boat, we will extend membership for no cost for an additional year. Only problem is that we currently have no way of accepting membership dues. We hope to have our web site up soon with linkage to Paypal. I'm trying to avoid having to mail out renewals and to receive checks - almost everything will be done thru the internet. But - I would be willing to accept a $10 check from people in this limited group to give you access as soon as possible. I just don't want to increase my workload to the point where I can't do it. Been there, done that.

The original owners forum will disappear soon and everyone will be moved to this one that is maintained by the association.

[ManassasPaul]

Ron,
Thanks for the fast reply. I can definitely wait. Right now the only thing is the long slow process of moving from pipe dream to being a serious buyer and eventually owner.

[Ron]

Paul -

Get your decision process into high gear. Other than the accomodations (last boat was a Catalina 400 with an enormous cabin, two heads, queen size matresses, AC, etc.), the Telstar 28 is the most enjoyable boat that I've owned or sailed, and I've sailed or delivered a bunch. It's not an all out racer and I'm sort of happy that it's not. It's safe, secure, comfortable, and moves rather nicely if there is any sort of steady wind around. 5 knots of consistant wind will just about get me up to 5 knots of boat speed, without the screecher or spinnaker. The big Catalina was good in light air too, but nothing like this. There are days out in Charlotte Harbour where I'm the only sailboat that is really sailing.

I was seriously thinking about buying either a Corsair 28 or 31 before I test sailed the T2. The much lighter Corsairs have an advantage in under 10 knots of wind, but they give up too much of everything else - including cabin space, standing head room, stability, equipment, design and engineering, easy folding ability, number of people required and total work to rig it, etc. Tony hit the bullseye with this one, and it's getting better all of the time.

I'm sort of happy that I had to sell the C400 because of the shallow water down here. I was hoping that they'd dredge my inlet to the point where I could get it in, now I'm happy that they didn't.

[jeff432]

Thanks for the comments, Ron. Very informative. On the prior site, there was a fellow thinking of selling his Tel because iirc of the small lake area and the hassle of having to tack constantly. Not ever having been on board and as a prospective owner, what makes it a hassle to tack? I only have sailed Hobies, tack all day and love it. The Telstar is more than 10 times the weight, and 10 times the cost, i am trying to figure out if it will be 10 times the fun....and 10 times as versatile.

[Ron]

Jeff -

I don't have a clue why anyone would say that it's more difficult to tack than any other sailboat with a sloop rig. It's not. With just the main you can get into irons easier with any tri, but letting the head sail out even 4 or 5 feet will take care of that. I tend to do that before a race - gives me 100 percent more control of the boat.

The only thing that I could think of is that it's faster and on a small lake you'll get to the other side in much less time. But I wouldn't call that a hassle.

[ManassasPaul]

Ron,

Thanks again for all the detailed responses.

I spent several hours on one at the last Annapolis sailboat show. Needless to say at this time, my decision would be between buying a boat and buying a house, have had one of those pipe dreams of being a liveaboard boat owner, though unfortunately Virginia isn't the most friendly for liveaboards when it comes to the entire primary residence legal aspects of it.

I definitely agree with you regarding the accommodations, being on the boat it was a definite feeling of 'Yeah, I think I could really make this work'. Though, it would be nice to hear stories of folk making their Telstars working out as liveaboards.

[Ron]

Paul -

While I really like the boat, I don't think I'd put it into the liveaboard class - especially for any significant length of time in the mid-atlantic or north east. But different stokes for different folks. People have sailed around the world in much smaller vessels. I guess that my minimum would be in the 60 foot range, although I've seen some in the 40 to 50 foot bracket which look interesting. The center cockpit Morgan 45 (as revised by Catalina) especially comes to mind. Spent some time on one during a delivery. It's layout could be comfortable for a couple. Down in the islands it would be a totally different story - you don't really live on the boat, it's just a place to sleep. Everyone should spend a year or two down there. Too bad my wife doesn't agree.

[Dan]

The major issues with getting the boat to tack have to do with the fact that you have to be a bit careful in turning the boat through the tack. The Telstar doesn’t have as much mass or inertia, and if you stall during the tack, you can get stuck in irons because of that. Also, if you have any chop, that can stop the boat from making the tack unless you have enough boat speed. IMHO, you do have to tack the Telstar a bit more smoothly than a monohull, which often has the momentum to bull through if you’re sloppy.

As for using the Telstar as a liveaboard, it can be done, but it isn’t realistic for more than two people... and even two people would be pretty tight. If you did choose to liveaboard the boat, you’d have to make some accommodations for the limited stowage and cabin space. In cooler climates, it would be less feasible than in warmer ones, where you could enclose the cockpit to create additional living space.

That said, one of the Telstar owners did do a fairly long extended multi-month cruise on his boat. Basically, he bought the boat in St. Petersberg, FL, and sailed it east through the Caribbean to the Bahamas, south, and then back west through the Caribbean to Honduras and ended in Guatemala. The trip was about 3500 NM IIRC. I’ve included a image that shows the route taken by him.


telstartrip.jpg (109.37 KiB) Viewed 93 times

[Ron]

Dan -

With the genoa rolled up (and sailing only with the main) it can be a problem sometimes - it likes looking into the wind more than turning thru it. But a few feet of head sail will help bring the bow around, especially if you don't release the old sheet until after the bow swings thru the wind. Backing the mostly furled sail will get the bow to move a lot faster. With both sails flying I've never really had a problem - but note that I tend to always back the genoa on just about every boat. Light boats don't have enough momentum and heavy ones tend to turn too slowly. Put a slightly oversize split pvc tube around the lower portion of the shrouds so that the sail will just roll around them. Just about every marine store stocks them.